Acrostics.
“Acrostic” is a literary form in which the first letters of consecutive lines
form a pattern. In alphabetic acrostics the pattern is the alphabet (the first
line begins with the first letter of the alphabet, the second line with the
second letter, etc.). Other forms of acrostic might spell out a message or a
name (for instance, the scribe who composed the work or the deity being
honored). There are a number of acrostics in the book of Psalms (9–10, 25, 34,
37, 111, 112, 119, 145). Psalm 119 is the most complex in that each letter of the Hebrew alphabet is
represented by eight consecutive lines. All Hebrew acrostics in the Bible are
alphabetic acrostics. The seven examples of acrostics in Mesopotamian
literature are name/sentence acrostics (since Akkadian was syllabic, there was
no alphabet and, therefore, no alphabetic acrostics) and generally date to the
first half of the first millennium. Egyptian examples offer numerical sequences
or complex messages that involve both horizontal and vertical patterns. They
are more dependent on puns to accomplish their stylistic objective. Acrostics
depend on writing and therefore would not be composed orally. They are intended
to be read, not just heard, because of the importance of the visual element.
This is especially clear in the Babylonian examples, where a variable sign
needs to be read with one value in the poem but a different value in the
acrostic. Some of the Babylonian examples also contain a pattern in the last
sign of each line. Another variation is found in those examples where the
acrostic is repeated each stanza.

Afterlife.Sheol
is the Hebrew word for the netherworld. Though it may be considered an act of
judgment for a person to be consigned to Sheol from life, it is not in itself a
place of judgment to be contrasted with a heavenly destiny of rewards. The word
is sometimes used as a synonym for grave because the grave was the portal
through which one entered the netherworld. Besides “Sheol” the Psalms also
frequently refer to “the pit.” This type of terminology occurs as a variant
term for the netherworld as early as the Sumerian period. This is entirely
logical given the understanding of the grave (a pit dug in the earth) as the
entry to the netherworld. The Israelites believed that the spirits of the dead
continued to exist in this shadowy world. It was not a pleasant existence, but
it is never associated with the torment of hellfire in the Old Testament (the
imagery seen in Is 66:24 is not associated with Sheol). It is not clear that in Israelite
thinking there were any alternatives to Sheol. People who were spared from
Sheol were spared from it by being kept alive rather than by going somewhere
else. There was at least a vague idea of somewhere else to go seen in the
examples of Enoch and Elijah, who avoided the grave and presumably did not go
to Sheol. But those texts are very unclear about what the other alternative
was. Lacking specific revelation to the contrary, Israelite beliefs conformed
generally to many of those current among their Canaanite and Mesopotamian
neighbors.

A
composite sketch of Mesopotamian beliefs would suggest that the dead needed to
cross a desert, mountains and a river, and then descend through the seven gates
of the netherworld. Though described in Mesopotamian literature as a place of
darkness where the inhabitants were clothed in bird feathers and ate dust,
kinder accounts were also current. The denizens of this shadow world also were
sustained by the offerings presented by those who were still alive, and they
enjoyed some light as the sun god passed through the netherworld when it was
night in the land of the living so he could rise in the east again the next
morning. The rulers of the netherworld, Nergal and Ereshkigal, were assisted by
a group called the Anunnaki. Despite the depressing descriptions, no one wanted
to be turned away from the gates because the alternative was to be a wandering
spirit with no access to funerary offerings.

There
are some expressions in Psalms that have often been interpreted as a reference
to an afterlife in God’s presence, though other explanations are possible. Some
psalms speak in terms of awakening and seeing God’s face (11:7; 17:15). In
the context of Psalms this is an anticipation not of heaven but of an
experience in the temple, as 27:4 and 63:3 make
clear. This phrase occurs with the same meaning in Akkadian, where, for
instance, Ashurbanipal longs to look at his god Ashur’s face (in the temple)
and bow before him. In a hymn to Ishtar it is said that the sick man who sees
her face revives. In more general terms the Babylonian sufferer in Ludlul
Bel Nemeqi says that he calls to his god, who does not show his face, yet
he hopes that the morning will bring him good things. The psalmist also expects
his deliverance to come when he awakes in the morning (139:18). A
second expression concerns being redeemed from Sheol (49:15). This
only means that the psalmist has been spared from death for the moment, not
that he will go to heaven instead of Sheol (compare the wording and contexts in
18:16–19; 30:2–3). Again, comparable wording occurs in Mesopotamian literature,
where Marduk is considered one who restores life from the grave (see comment on
30:3) or gives life to the dead. Gula, the goddess of healing, states that
she can return the dead from the netherworld. These are expressions not of
resurrection but of healing. For discussion of resurrection, see comment on Daniel
12:2.

Creation
in Psalms. The praise of Yahweh as the Creator in Psalms is focused mainly
on his ordering and maintenance of the cosmos. His control and his sovereignty
are indicated as he shows his mastery of the heavens, clouds, sun, moon, stars,
earth, seas, thunder and lightning. As in the rest of the ancient world, in
Israel it is more important who is in charge than where things ultimately come
from. Nevertheless, Yahweh is also seen as the originator of every part of the
cosmos. This also extends to the inhabitants of the cosmos from people and down
through the various species of animal life, no matter how obscure. The poetic
language of the Psalms does not hesitate to adopt the imagery of the cosmos
that is common to the worldview contained in the mythology and old-world
science of the ancient Near East. Though today in our scientifically enlightened
world, some would desire to find in the Psalms a scientific accuracy garbed
(disguised) in poetic language, such an approach poses a methodological
dilemma. The Israelite audience was familiar only with its own cultural
perspectives. Since these were not informed by revelation (e.g., God had not
told them that a round earth revolved around the sun and was held in orbit by
gravity), they would have closely resembled those common in the ancient world.
If this is so, then the words, images and ideas used in the text communicated
to them what to them was reality, not just poetic language. Nevertheless, God’s
sovereign control of nature is the point.

Whether
his control of the storm is depicted in the imagery of God armed with lightning
bolts and riding on clouds or is understood in his control of high and low
pressure systems and the jet stream, the point of his sovereignty remains
unchanged. God did not inform them concerning the science of meteorology so
that he could give them an “accurate” idea of his control of the weather. He
used the understanding that they had. In the same way God did not inform them
that the organ they actually used for thinking was the brain, not the heart or
the kidneys, as the ancient world believed. Instead he affirmed his interest in
their minds, using the understanding that they had of physiology. The ancient
worldview concerning the cosmos is evident in many passages of the Old
Testament. For a sampling see the comments in Genesis 1:6–8; Deuteronomy
32:22; Job 9:6, 7; 22:14; 26:7, 10; 36:27; 38:1–31; Psalms 8:3; 24:2; 104:1–35; Proverbs 3:19–20; and Isaiah 40:22. There
is no instance in which the text supersedes the science of the day or assumes a
more sophisticated view of science.

Lament. Laments
may be personal statements of despair, such as that found in Psalm
22:1–21, dirges following the death of an important person (David’s elegy
for Saul in 2 Sam 1:17–27) or communal cries in times of crisis, such as Psalm 137. The
most famous lament from ancient Mesopotamia is the Lament over the
Destruction of Ur, which commemorates the capture of the city in 2004 b.c.
by the Elamite king Kindattu. For more information on this latter category see
the sidebar in the book of Lamentations. In the book of Psalms more than a
third of the psalms are laments, mostly of an individual. The most common
complaints concern sickness and oppression by enemies. There are a number of
technical terms that describe the lament literature in Mesopotamia, and many of
them are connected to incantations (that is, magical rites are being performed
to try to rid the person of the problem). The petitions that accompany lament
are very similar to those found in prayers from the ancient Near East. They
include requests for guidance, protection, favor, attention from the deity,
deliverance from crisis, intervention, reconciliation, healing and long life.

Praise. Praise
psalms can be either individual or corporate. Over a third of the psalms in the
book are praise psalms. Corporate psalms typically begin with an imperative
call to praise (e.g., “shout to the Lord”) and describe all the good things the
Lord has done. Individual praise often begins with a proclamation of intent to
praise (e.g., “I will praise you, O Lord”) and declare what God has done in a
particular situation in the psalmist’s life. Mesopotamian and Egyptian hymns
generally focus on descriptive praise, often moving from praise to petition.
Examples of the proclamation format can be seen in the Mesopotamian wisdom
composition Ludlul Bel Nemeqi. The title is the first line of the piece
that is translated “I Will Praise the God of Wisdom.” As in the individual
praise psalms, this Mesopotamian worshiper of Marduk reports a problem that he
had had and how his god brought him deliverance.

Private
worship. How much of the worship connected to Psalms was associated with
the annual festivals at the temple and the pilgrimages made to those festivals?
How much of it was associated with sacrifices that were being made? A large
percentage of the people who lived in Israel lived many miles from the temple.
Only those who lived in close proximity to Jerusalem could visit there
regularly (though there would be no reason to if one had no sacrifice that
needed offering). The observant Israelite male might have traveled there three
times each year as the law required (see comments on Ex
23:15–17), but there is little evidence in the text that such observance
ever became commonplace in the Old Testament period. As a result many
Israelites would perhaps only see the temple a few times in their life.
Certainly, then, there must have been other contexts in which worship could
take place. The synagogue is generally thought to be a postexilic invention at
the earliest, and the high places throughout Israel were disapproved in the
ideal world of biblical religious practice. Sabbath was not clearly designated
as a day set aside for worship, though at the temple in Jerusalem, at least,
there were worship activities that took place on that day. We know that
Israel’s worship centered around sacred space (the temple), sacred times
(Sabbath, festivals), sacred rituals (sacrifice) and sacred words (prayers).
Additionally we know that the focus of worship was preserving the holiness of
God’s presence, preserving the Law and the covenant, and recognition of who God
was and what he had done. Nevertheless, we have very little idea of the routine
of worship in the individual’s life.

Retribution
principle. In its most basic form the retribution principle contends that
the righteous will prosper and the wicked will suffer. On a national level this
principle is built into the covenant, with its potential blessings and threat
of curses. On the individual level it had been inferred that this was necessary
in order for God to maintain justice. Since the Israelites had only the vaguest
concept of the afterlife, and no clear idea of judgment or reward in the
afterlife, God’s justice could only be accomplished in this life. The
Israelites believed that if God were to be considered just, rewards and
punishments in this life would be proportional to the righteousness or
wickedness of the individual. These beliefs had also then led Israelites to
believe that if someone was prospering, it must be a reward for righteousness;
and if someone was suffering, it must be a punishment for wickedness. The
greater the suffering, the greater the wickedness must be. Because of the
retribution principle, suffering had become a source of shame. The authors of
Babylonian and Assyrian magical texts describe this same principle of
retribution, but since they were not completely convinced of the justice of the
gods, it was not as big a theological issue in Mesopotamia.

Temple
worship. The temple was not a structure designed for corporate worship. It
was a structure to provide a place for God to dwell in the midst of his people.
It had to be maintained in holiness and purity so that God’s continuing
presence could be vouchsafed. The priests existed to maintain that purity and
to control access. The temple idea was not invented so that there would be a
place to offer sacrifices. Rather, several of the sacrifices existed as a means
of maintaining the temple. God’s presence was the most important element to
preserve. The most important acts of worship were those which recognized his
holiness and worked to maintain the holiness of his sacred space. For this
reason, words of worship often included acts of worship. Though corporate
worship at times took place at the temple, it was not a place that was set up
for worship to take place. It was designed to adequately house God, and
consequently worship there was inevitable. The word most often used for worship
in the Old Testament also means “service.” In the ancient Near East most people
saw worship as serving the needs of the gods by providing them with food
(sacrifice), clothing (placed on the idols) and shelter (luxurious and ornate
temples). The God of Israel did not have needs, but it was still appropriate to
serve him, as, for instance, the priests and Levites did.

Festivals
in the ancient world centered around cycles of nature (New Year’s or fertility
festivals), mythological events (enthronement of deity conquering chaos),
agricultural events (harvest) or historical memorials (dedications or
deliverances). They celebrated what deity had done and sought to perpetuate
deity’s action on their behalf. Often these elements were combined. They
usually were celebrated at a holy place and therefore often required
pilgrimage. The major religious festivals and holy days celebrated throughout
the ancient Near East were for the most part agriculturally based. While daily
offerings were made to the gods, there were “patron days” in specific towns and
villages for locally honored deities as well as occasions when the national
god(s) were processed from one town to another, “visiting” shrines and
promoting the general fertility and well-being of the land. The single most
important of the Mesopotamian festivals was the Akitu or New Year’s
celebration. The monarch assumed the role of the chief god, while the high
priestess served as his consort and represented the chief goddess. Their
performance of a series of intricate sacred rituals and sacrifices were
designed to please the gods and thus insure a prosperous and fertile year
ahead. During the year, based on a lunar calendar, New Moon festivals were
celebrated, as were the events of the agricultural calendar (the coming of the
rains or annual flood waters, plowing and harvesting). Some rituals grew out of
the changing of the seasons, such as the mourning for the “dying god” Tammuz
(or Dumuzi), who could only be released from the underworld through the tears
of devotees (see Ezek 8:14). At these corporate festivals individuals were generally little
more than spectators. It was not unusual for there to be festivals of one kind
or another six or eight times during a month.

Common Metaphors for God

In the ancient Near East
it was a common practice to multiply names and titles for deity, sometimes
using metaphors, other times just descriptive phrases. At the end of Enuma
Elish the champion and new head of the pantheon, Marduk, is praised by
having his fifty names declared. Some of the most intriguing, along with part
of the description connected to them, include Namtilla, the one who gives life;
Namru, the pure god who purifies the path; Agaku, who created human beings to
set them free; Shazu, director of justice; and Agilima, who built the earth
above the water. Below are a few of the common metaphors used as titles for
Yahweh in Psalms.

Horn (18:2; 75:10; 89:17; 92:10; 112:9; 132:17; 148:14). This
metaphor is only used for God in one place in the Psalms (18:2). In
ancient Near Eastern iconography, rays or horns on the crowns of deities
symbolize power. These are related to the divine glory (Akkadian, melammu)
that emanated from the gods and especially from their heads or crowns. So, for
instance, one text makes reference to the god Enlil “whose horns gleam like the
rays of the sun.” It was common in Mesopotamia for kings and gods to wear
crowns featuring protruding or embossed horns. Sometimes the sets of horns were
stacked one on another in tiers. The winged lion from Ashurnasirpal’s palace
has a conical crown on its human head with three pairs of tiered horns embossed
on it. Both in the Bible and the ancient Near East, then, the awe-inspiring
power of the deity could be invested in humans, particularly the king.

Judge. The
judge had the responsibility of making decisions concerning legal cases that
were brought before him. In the cultures of the ancient Near East the king
represented the highest court of appeals from a human standpoint. In many
cases, however, there was simply insufficient evidence to allow a human being
to arrive at a confident decision. As a result, cases were often settled by
deity, thus giving rise to the concept of deity as the judge who sees all the
evidence and gives an informed and just decision. There were three significant
mechanisms by which this system worked. First was the oath. An oath was taken
in cases where physical evidence was unavailable or responsibility for loss was
uncertain (Ex 22:10–13; Hammurabi). In this way God was solicited as a witness, and the
person taking the oath laid himself open to divine justice. Second was the
oracle. In this situation a priest would oversee a process by which the deity
would be questioned concerning the innocence or guilt of the accused party. In
the ancient Near East omens were generally used in oracular cases. An animal
would be sacrificed and the entrails examined to determine what the deity’s
verdict was (favorable meant innocent; unfavorable meant guilty). In Israel the
Urim and Thummim were used for this purpose. The third mechanism by which deity
was involved was trial by ordeal. “Ordeal” describes a judicial situation in
which the accused is placed in the hand of God using some mechanism, generally
one that will put the accused in jeopardy. If the deity intervenes to protect
the accused from harm, the verdict is innocent. Most trials by ordeal in the
ancient Near East involved dangers such as water, fire or poison. When the
accused was exposed to these threats they were in effect being assumed guilty
until the deity declared otherwise by action on their behalf. In each of these
situations, God was understood to be the judge who was rendering verdicts.
Beyond these more formal contexts, deity was also understood as the judge in
the sense that he maintained justice in society. This meant taking up the cause
of the unfortunate, the poor, the vulnerable and the oppressed. In Ugaritic
literature, Baal is sometimes given the title “Judge,” but more frequently it
is associated with Yamm (“sea”), who is regularly called “Judge River” (perhaps
alluding to the river ordeal by which judgments were passed). In Akkadian
literature the sun god Shamash is the god of justice and therefore frequently
cast in the role of divine judge. In Egypt, Amon-Re, also the sun god, was seen
as responsible for justice.

King. In the
ancient Near East the role of king was attributed to the chief national god,
the head of the pantheon. During the Old Testament period this included El or
Baal for Canaanites, Marduk for Babylon, Chemosh for Moab, Milcom for Ammon,
Ashur for Assyria, Dagon for Philistia, Ra for Egypt, Qos for Edom and Hadad
for Aram. The rule of these gods in the divine realm was exercised over the
other locally worshiped gods (as head of the divine assembly). In the human
realm these gods would be closely identified with the human king as they were
involved together in military exploits, building projects (especially temples)
and maintaining justice in society. All of the areas that the human king was
seen as responsible for, the divine king was ultimately responsible for.
Military success meant that the rule of the deity was extended over other
national deities whom he had conquered. Thus Sennacherib tried to intimidate
Hezekiah by listing the gods that had fallen before him (see comment on 2 Chron
32:11). In the days of Ahab, Yahweh had to compete with Baal for
kingship of Israel (see comment on 1 Kings 17:1). In
the days of Samuel the people had lost faith in Yahweh’s kingship and sought to
replace him with a human king (see comment on 1 Sam 8:7). In
Psalms, Yahweh is repeatedly proclaimed as king. Whether or not this is
associated with a formal enthronement festival in Israel (see comment on Day of
Yahweh in the sidebar in Joel), Yahweh’s position as king recognizes his
sovereignty over individual crises and the events that drive them, over
national disasters, over the nations and their gods, and over the cosmos and
its operation.

Redeemer. In
Israelite society the redeemer’s (go’el) role was fulfilled by a kinsman
who helped recover the tribe’s losses, whether those losses were human (in
which case he hunted down the killer), judicial (in which case he assisted in
lawsuits) or economic (in which case he recovered the property of a family
member). He was a family member who protected the interests of the family when
there had been some intrusion on the rights or holdings of the family. This is
the term most frequently used in Psalms. A second term (pdh) refers in
the legal sphere to freeing someone from standing claims against them or from
obligations they have incurred. So redeeming the firstborn involved freeing him
from obligation by paying an agreed price. In the Old Testament neither these words
nor any of their synonyms refer to redeeming or saving someone eternally from
their sins. Psalm 130:8 is the closest, but even that refers only to freeing from the
obligations of punishment the nation had brought on itself. In both Ugaritic
and Akkadian this verb is used with deity as the subject.

Rock (18:2, 31; 19:14; 28:1; 31:2; 42:9; 62:2; 71:3; 78:35; 89:26; 92:15; 94:22; 95:1; 144:1). There
are two different Hebrew words that are used for this divine title, with no
discernable difference in their usage. The title does not occur as such in the
literature of the cultures surrounding Israel, but we know that it was used
because it can be found as the theophoric element in Aramaic and Amorite
personal names. A rock could be a foundation for a building, it could provide
protection (to hide behind) or shade (to sit beside), and it could be
impervious and unmovable. All of these qualities made it an apt metaphor for
describing God.

Shepherd. In the
ancient Near East both kings and gods were often portrayed as shepherds of
their people. Just as the sheep were totally dependent on the shepherd for
their care and protection, people depended on the king and the gods. Shamash,
the Mesopotamian sun god and the god of justice, is praised as being the
shepherd of all that is below. The Egyptian sun god, Amon, is described as a
shepherd who brings his herds to pasture, thus providing food for his suffering
people.

Shield (3:3; 5:12; 7:10; 18:2, 30; 28:7; 59:11; 84:11; 144:2). In
battle the type of shield would be chosen to suit the type of combat one
expected to encounter. If siege was being laid to defend city walls, one would
want a body-length shield that would provide protection from arrows and sling stones
raining down from the walls. In contrast, hand-to-hand combat in the open field
would favor a small maneuverable shield that could be used to ward off thrusts
by sword or spear. Nearly all of the examples in Psalms refer to the latter
(all of the above except 5:12). The metaphor of deity as a shield is familiar from the ancient
Near East in, for instance, a prophetic oracle given to the Assyrian king
Esarhaddon, who is assured by the goddess Ishtar that she will be a shield for
him. Ishtar, as the goddess of war, is referred to as “lady of the shield,” and
her planet, Venus, takes the Akkadian word for shield, aritu, as one of
its names.

Stronghold/fortress (9:9; 18:2; 27:1; 31:2; 37:39; 43:2; 46:7; 48:3; 52:7; 59:9, 16, 17; 62:2, 6–8; 71:3; 91:2; 94:22; 144:2). There
are three different Hebrew terms that are used in conveying this metaphor, with
the occurrences divided fairly evenly. The range of meaning that they cover
extends from naturally defensible locations like a rocky outcrop or a cave, to garrison
forts, to fortified cities and even to fortified citadels within cities. In an
Assyrian text the king is identified as a fortress to the people. There is no
sign of this metaphor for deity in Egyptian or Akkadian literature.

Warrior. In the
divine warrior motif, the deity is fighting the battles and defeating the
deities of the enemy. In Assyria, Nergal is the king of battle, and Ishtar is
viewed as a war goddess. The Canaanite Baal and the Babylonian Marduk are
divine warriors. In this worldview human warfare is viewed simply as a
representation of warfare among the gods. The stronger god would be victorious
regardless of the strengths or weaknesses of the human combatants. Thunder and
lightning were considered to regularly accompany the presence of a deity, often
in a battle setting. From the Sumerian Exaltation of Inanna, to the
Hittite myths about the storm god, to the Akkadian and Ugaritic mythologies,
the gods are viewed as thundering in judgment against their enemies. Baal is
depicted as grasping a handful of thunderbolts. In Psalms, Yahweh is sometimes
portrayed as the divine warrior coming to the aid of the psalmist against his
enemies. Additionally, however, he is depicted as doing battle against the
forces of cosmic chaos. Ancient mythologies often portrayed gods in battle
against chaos, resulting in the harnessing and organizing of the cosmos. Both
Marduk (Babylonian) and Baal (Canaanite) subdue the sea, which is personified
in their divine foe (Tiamat and Yamm respectively). The cosmic conflict motif
depicts the principal deity overcoming cosmic forces (usually forces of chaos
like Death or Sea) to bring order to the cosmos. In the ancient Near East these
forces are usually personified as gods, but Psalms preserves a certain
ambiguity on that count.

Musical Terms

As would be the case with
any hymnal, the text of the book of Psalms also contains instructions on
orchestration, which tune to use to perform a psalm, the appropriate tempo, as
well as performance markings or rubrics such as pauses, breath marks and the
use of crescendo and decrescendo modulations. In modern music much of this
information is written in Italian or Latin. A musician or singer must learn
these technical terms in order to perform the music properly. However, two thousand
years from now the meaning of many of these terms may well be lost to memory.
It is not surprising therefore to discover that we cannot translate and do not
fully understand some of the technical terms that appear in the superscriptions
of the Psalms.

Alamoth.
Title of Psalm 46. This term only appears in Psalm 46, but it
is also mentioned in 1 Chronicles 15:20, where temple musicians are to play their
harps “according to Alamoth.” By comparison with the Greek word ılumos,
which means small flute, this may refer either to a high-pitched voice or to
playing on the upper register of the instrument.

Death of
the Son. Title of Psalm 9. This is an incipit or set of
cue words for a tune now lost. There is some difficulty translating ˒alumot.
The LXX renders it “the strength of youth.” The translation in the niv is
apparently based on connection with the Ugaritic god Mot, “death” (see Ps 48:14).

Do Not
Destroy. Title of Psalms 57–59; 75. This is
likely an incipit, the opening words of a text or song title (possibly based on
Is 65:8). Accompanied by miktam, it may also serve as a shorthand
means of forbidding the destruction or removal of an inscription or text.

Doe of
the Morning. Title of Psalm 22. This
short phrase is a cue given to the director of the psalm to perform it
according to a popular tune, “The Doe of the Morning.” It would be a common
practice to set new words to an old, familiar tune. Some have suggested a tie
to the Ugaritic god s̆ḥr and thus an ancient origin for the
song.

Dove on
Distant Oaks. Title of Psalm 56. The
phrase is a cue for a song title and tune for the performance of this psalm.
There is some uncertainty in whether to translate ˒elim as “doves”
or “gods.”

Flutes.
Title of Psalm 5. It is suggested that the term translated
“flutes” here (neḥilot) refers to “lamentation-pipes” such as
those that are depicted in Egyptian art of professional mourners. Note also the
instruments used by the ecstatic prophets in 1 Samuel 10:5, which
may have been flutes. The phrase “to the flutes” may also be a cue for the tune
of the psalm.

Gittith.
Title of Psalms 8; 81; 84. Some
interpreters tie this term to a musical instrument, possibly associated with
the Philistine city of Gath. It is also possible that it is a cue word
signifying a rhythm, a song or a dance patterned after the work of grape
treaders in the winepress (Hebrew gat; see Is 16:10; Jer 25:30).

Higgaion.9:16. This
term may be an orchestration cue to the musicians. It has the meaning
“utterance” or “musings” (see Is 16:7 for its use as “mourn”) and
thus may indicate a type of glissando or fluttering sound, perhaps by string
accompaniment.

Jeduthun.
Title of Psalms 39; 62; 77. Since
this is the personal name of one of David’s temple singers (1 Chron
25:1–6), it is possible that its appearance in three superscriptions is
simply a reference to that person or possibly to a style of performance
attributed to him. It may also be a cue to a tune associated with Jeduthun.

Lily of
the Covenant. Title of Psalms 60; 80. This is
a set of cue words or an incipit for a song title whose tune is now unknown.
See also Psalms 45 and 69 and 2 Chronicles 4:5 for the use of this word for “lily.”

Mahalath.
Title of Psalm 53. Based on 1 Kings
1:40 this term probably refers to a type of flute or pipe used in
celebratory processions. Since it can also be translated as “sickness” (1 Kings
8:37), it is possible that the instrument was used in healing rituals.

Mahalath
Leannoth. Title of Psalm 88. The
word le˓annoth means “to afflict” and therefore may be added here
to coincide with the theme of penitence in Psalm 88. Since
this term may be a form of the Hebrew word ˒anah, “to chant” (Ex 15:21), its
use along with Mahalath, “flute,” could therefore be a reference to an
antiphonal line of music for more than one instrument or alternating chanted
and instrumental lines.

Maskil.
Title of Psalms 32; 42; 44; 45; 47; 52–55;
74; 78; 88; 89; 142. Since it appears in so many psalms and has the meaning “to
comprehend” (from Hebrew sakal), this may have been a general label for
a set of didactic or penitential songs (see the possible connection to mourning
in Amos 5:16–17). It may also refer to an “artfully crafted” song or argument,
with uplifting words, exhorting the people to praise God (see 2 Chron
30:22).

Miktam.
Title of Psalms 16; 56–60. This term always appears
accompanied by “of David.” The LXX translates the word miktam as stelographia,
“inscription carved on a monument,” and thus the word may represent formal
declarations or an official song or ritual performance. It may also refer to a
song or declaration that was both inscribed on stone and recited publicly in
the temple.

Petition
(Hazkir). Title of Psalms 38; 70. The
root verb, zakar, appears in Leviticus 2:2 and Numbers
5:16 in reference to a cereal offering accompanied by frankincense.
Similarly, in Isaiah 66:3 it refers to an offering of frankincense. Elsewhere it is used to
refer to invoking God’s name (Ex 20:21; Amos 6:10). Thus
it may refer to a public ritual including both an offering and a petition for
God’s aid.

Prayer (Tephillah).
Title of Psalms 17; 86; 90; 102; 142. This is
a term for a psalm designed to call on the people or on a sinner to pray to God
for forgiveness (see 1 Kings 8:38). The song takes the form of a lament, recognizing the right of
God to chastise the people, and bids them to pray while wearing mourning
clothes and engaging in fasting (Ps 35:13).

Psalm (Mizmor).
Title of Psalms 47–51; 62–68; 76; 77; 80; 82–85;
87; 88; 91; 98; 100; 101; 108–110; 139–141; 143; 145. This
technical term appears fifty-seven times in the superscriptions of Psalms and
is accompanied by “of David” thirty-five times. Because of its relation to the
Hebrew verb “to prune a grapevine” (Is 5:6), some
commentators suggest it refers to a stringed instrument whose strings would be
plucked in much the same manner as a vine is snipped by the thumbnail of a
vinedresser. However, comparison with the Akkadian zamaru, “to sing,”
may point to mizmor simply being a generic term for a song or for a song
accompanied by stringed instruments.

Selah. Psalms 3; 4; 7; 9; 20; 21; 24; 32; 39; 44; 46–50;
52; 54; 55; 57; 59–62; 66–68; 75–77; 81–85; 87–89; 140; 143. This is
the most ubiquitous of the technical terms in Psalms. It appears seventy-one
times in thirty-nine psalms and three times in Habakkuk 3, but
never in a superscription. Since it is impossible to determine if the word’s
placement is original or is the result of editors or copyists, its exact
purpose remains uncertain. Among the suggestions for its meaning is
“interlude,” indicating a break in the text or performance. It is also possible
that it is a cue for the choir to repeat a litany or affirmation of a statement
in the psalm or for a particular instrument, possibly a drum, to be beaten to
keep the rhythm or emphasize a word.

Sheminith.
Title of Psalms 6; 12. It is
possible that this technical term can be translated as “eight-stringed
instrument” and that the reference here is either to the use of this device or
possibly to the use of the eighth string. This upper register would provide a high
pitched sound, imitating the voices of female singers (see 1 Chron
15:21).

Shiggaion.
Title of Psalm 7. Based on comparison with the
Akkadian s̆egu, “to howl or lament,” it is likely that this term
(also found in Hab 3:1) is a label or indicator of a psalm of lament. The word in Hebrew
means “to go astray” and in this context may refer either to the subject of the
song or poem or perhaps to an exaggerated rhythm or enthusiastic chant.

Song (Shir).
Titles of Psalms 46; 48; 65–68;
75; 76; 83; 87; 88; 91; 108. This is simply a generic term for “song,” appearing many times in
the Psalms and elsewhere (Ex 15:1; Num 21:17; Deut
31:19). It is placed both in the superscriptions and in the body of
some psalms (69:30; 78:63) and is sometimes accompanied by mizmor. As such it must
have had both a general as well as a technical meaning within the body of
religious music, for instance in the title “Songs of Ascent” (Ps 120–134).

Songs of
Ascent.Title of Psalms 120–134. Medieval and rabbinic tradition
held that these fifteen psalms were to be sung on the fifteen steps leading up
from the court of the women to the court of the Israelites in Jerusalem’s
postexilic temple. More likely, however, is the explanation that they were
chanted or sung by religious pilgrims as they made their way up to Jerusalem or
“Zion” during the three major religious festivals each year (see the comment on
Ex 23:17).

Stringed
Instruments. Title of Psalms 4; 6; 54; 55; 61; 67; 76. It is
unclear whether a specific type of stringed instrument is indicated by this
term, neginot, “to run over the strings.” However, reference to the lyre
played by David in 1 Samuel 16:16 and the string player in 2 Kings
3:15 and in the Egyptian Tale of Wenamon suggest this is a hand-held
instrument (see also Is 23:16).

Tune of
Lilies. Title of Psalms 45; 69. This is
an incipit or set of cue words for a tune now unknown. It may also be an
instruction to accompany the song with a lily-shaped instrument played with
either six strings or six bells. It is possible the term for “lily” derives
from the Akkadian s̆us̆s̆u, “a shock of,” but that cannot
be confirmed.

Wedding
Song. Title of 45. Psalm 45 contains the celebration of an Israelite king’s marriage to a princess
from Tyre, possibly Ahab to Jezebel (1 Kings 16:31). It
only appears here but may have been applied to documents solemnizing the
marriage.